Exchange Program in Spain (Hotel stay)

There is not one Spain but many. The participant who crosses the Iberian Peninsula will note the extraordinary diversity of Spain, a country that lives since the end of Francoism, a brilliant revival and modernization at high speed.

The warm temperament of the Spaniards, summer temperatures and coastline have long attracted tourists, especially those from the North Europe mists. However, the country has much more to offer than the beaches of the Costa Brava and the Costa del Sol, as beautiful as they are. Spain is a mosaic of all captivating regions: the Basque Country to the strong identity, Andalusia and its Arab heritage, dynamic Catalonia, Galicia or very green peaks of the Pyrenees. Spain certainly deserves more than one trip, but a school exchange with locals!

Our Strengths:

Stay together in a hotel in Spain (7 nights)

Improve your Spanish level with daily Spanish classes and get a certificate for the entire Exchange

Learn about Spanish culture from a European Milna person, who’s with you during the entire Exchange

Participate in various activities and discover the area in the afternoon and over the weekend

Stay 1 to 3 nights with a Spanish family (Optional and free)

Safety:

We follow the security instructions strictly, especially when outdoors;

We follow the French law protecting the youth while organizing a travel;

A Milna person is with the group during the entire Exchange, who’s reachable at all times.

Responsible traveler:

We use the public transportation and limit the group detritus to reduce the impact of the carbon footprint caused by this project.

This is an example itinerary based on flight landing in Barcelona/Madrid

Wherever you will go, you will do the local activities (sea, countryside, mountain, city...) and you will also visit Madrid or Barcelona or even both!*

Day 1: Flight from UAE - Barcelona/Madrid(Depending on the host school's location). Check-in to the hotel and unwind for a while. Head out to explore the city till evening. Have dinner and end the day at the hotel.

Day 2: After breakfast at the hotel, we will leave for the hosting city and visit the host school. Night in a hotel in the hosting city.

Day 3-4-5: Get involved in the morning school activities (sports, giving a presentation of your country, teaching your language to the host students, music etc..) . Lunch in the school canteen. Explore the hosting city on bicycles or by walk! (Churches, parks, museums, mountains, countryside, sea, shopping...) Dinner and night at a hotel.

Day 6: After breakfast at hotel, we'll leave for the school. Last day at school, saying goodbye to your new friends for life and perform at your farewell show. After lunch at the school, we'll head to Barcelona/Madrid.

Day 7: Have your breakfast at the hotel and leave to explore the city for the entire day. Dinner and night in Barcelona/Madrid.

An exchange to Spain is possible throughout the year except the days mentioned in this calendar.

For an Exchange Program (Hotel stay) in September or October, The Milna Booking Form has to be submitted before the 5th June to have enough time to get the confirmation of the Spanish school. (July and August, all the Spanish schools and their administrations are closed)

Duration up to 7 nights in hotel + a bonus of 1 to 3 nights with families (Subject to feasibility). The stay or not with families will have no impact on the total price. (Want a different duration? Contact us)

Up to 3 nights with families (Optional, subject to feasibility, to be requested at the moment of the enrollment)

Project starting and ending from the concerned departure airport

Certificate for each participant

The rate does not include:

Transfer to/from the starting concerned airport

Personal expenditure

(*) The prices mentioned above are subject to availability. The official rates are in Euros. The rate of exchange used for calculating cost in AED is subject to change and the final rate applied will be at the actual time of order on our "Shop" section. The final amount in AED will be displayed by selecting AED as currency.

Eventual options:

Spanish Sim card

Extra days in Barcelona/Madrid

Excursion in a neighboring country (France, Portugal, Andorra...)

Stopover in another country (As per the airline stopover)

About the "120 days offer":

For the 120 days offer, we will do our maximum to respect your preferred date of departure, however, the dates of the project must be flexible +/- 7 days.

A member of Milna is present with the traveling group during the entire length of the stay. He/ She will ensure the security and safety of the group.

In case of an emergency, the traveler will be taken into care by the nearest hospital. If needed, he will be repatriated in the best conditions.

Exchange Program in Spain (Hotel stay)

What is an Exchange program (Hotel stay) and what happens in an Exchange program?

An Exchange program is an opportunity for the participant to experience the life in another country while studying, traveling, learning and sharing their knowledge with others. The participants attend a school in the morning where they do different academic and extra-curricular activities. In the Afternoon, they visit the local city and its famous attractions and some organizations. In the evening all the participants and adults spend time together in a hotel. This program continues with a different schedule each day. 1 to 3 extra nights can be spent with the family, usually the weekend (Subject to feasibility). An Exchange program (Hotel stay) lasts 7 nights maximum in hotel + 1 to 3 optional nights family stay.

How does the payment deadline work?

The principle is simple: The earliest you book your project and pay, more you will save. By paying us in advance, we can book the accommodation, transportation etc in advance.

We get them for a competitive price so we make you benefit from this saving, hence the different deadlines.

Let's say you select the 90 days' deadline, it means, that 100% of the payment needs to reach us no later than 90 days before the departure. If you have already paid 10% with the Milna Booking Form, the remaining payment will be 90% to send us no later than 90 days before the departure.If your payment is not reaching us before the 90 days' deadline, then the 60 days' deadline will apply. (Check our rates to know the exact amount).

If today is the 91st day before the departure and you want the 90 days' deadline, you have to send us 100% of the amount to respect the deadline and avail the 90 days special offer, but no later than that.

What do we do about the visas?

Milna will facilitate the visa formalities of the participants and the teachers. Our team will provide you the list of required documents for the visa. Please make sure that all the documents in the list are submitted with us as soon as possible or within the duration communicated to you.

What about Travel and Health insurance?

Travel and health insurance is not always compulsory to obtain a visa or the right to access a country, since many participants might already have an insurance covering them yearly, each participant is required to check if he/she is already covered.If not covered, Milna recommends the participant to have one covering him during the project.

At which place (city / region) will the participant be placed?

The Exchange Program (Hotel Stay) will take place anywhere in Spain. If your school has any particular preferred area, then it has to be requested for, at the time of enrollment and we'll do our best to find a school in that area matching your preferences.

What happens when the participant arrives in the host country and how will I know if she/he has arrived?

Milna maintains a 'Before/During/After the Exchange program' blog in which we mention the itinerary and the calendar of the participants. During the exchange program we put our best efforts to update the parents about each activity of the participants through articles, pictures and videos on our blog. The blog’s name would be communicated to all the participants and their families.

Where will the participant stay?

Each participant will be staying with the group in the same hotel. If the group wishes, we can provide, as a free option 1 to 3 nights stay with the Spanish families from the Spanish school doing the exchange program with us (Subject to feasibility). If the optional family stay is chosen, each participant will be provided one Spanish host family according to the participant’s age and gender. For ex: A 12 years-old male participant lives in a family of 12 years-old Spanish boy. A female participant is also placed in a family of a girl of the same age. All efforts are put in order to put the participants in a family according to their age and gender.

Where will the teacher stay?

The teacher accompanying the group will be staying in the same hotel, in his/her own room. In case, if the optional family stay is chosen, then the teacher is hosted by a teacher of the host school.

What will the participant eat?

The participant will be enjoying local delicacies that will be respecting his/her diet and preferences that has been mentioned in the "I'm going!" form.

Will the participant be alone Or with his/her friend, at the Spanish family's home? (If the optional nights with family stay is chosen)

Each participant lives alone with one Spanish family. We do not put two participants together in one Spanish family unless we have less hosting families.It is for the benefit of the Exchange Program, that each participant lives alone with a family, as two participants in one Spanish family will just communicate with each other instead of conversing and sharing their knowledge with their Spanish correspondent student and its family.

Who will take care of the participant?

In most cases the teacher of the participant shall accompany them to Spain. In other cases if the teacher cannot go, then any other teacher chosen by the participant's school shall go along with one Milna person. Our Milna person knows Spain and its culture very well and stays with the group during the entire Exchange. The participant can contact the teacher and the Milna person for any assistance at any time.

Does the Spanish Family speak English? The participant doesn’t speak good Spanish or any Spanish at all.

Most Spanish people are not so good at English. But by agreeing to host a foreign participant in their family, they already cross the barrier of language. Generally, such families speak English or at least, one parent i.e. The Father or the Mother of the family speaks English. And even if not them, then for sure the Spanish correspondent (student/participant) of the family speaks English as he/she learns it at school. Hence, even if the participant knows very little Spanish or no Spanish, it is never a problem.

Who will the host family be? Please send full details about the host family.

The host family would be the parents of the Spanish student studying in the Spanish school who hosts/invites the group. All the host families are selected by the Spanish school in collaboration with Milna. The full details of the participant’s respective host family will be given to you, before the departure.

Should the participant bring a gift for the host family and siblings?

Yes, the host family will be happy to receive something from your country as a gift. It is not necessary to buy an expensive one. Anything representing your country will do. Otherwise, simply you may ask the host family.

Do I have to host my Spanish partner if he comes my country?

A real exchange program is supposed to be like that. However, if you can't host your Spanish partner during his possible visit to your country with his school, we will have no problem with that. We will always be able to get him a new partner from your school.

How much pocket money should the participant carry?

For sake of the participant's private expenditure (shopping etc.), you can give pocket money. It all depends on what your the participantwould like to buy from Spanish markets. In general, we believe that 15 Euros per day is largely enough to fulfill the normal shopping desires.